People in Japan Endure Freezing Temps to Pray for Health Under a Waterfall in Toyama Pref.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:48 JST, January 20, 2026

People prayed for good health while they stood under a waterfall at the foot of the Tateyama mountain range in Kamiichi, Toyama Prefecture, on Tuesday, the first day of Daikan, the coldest period of year.

At around 8:30 a.m., when the air temperature was minus 1 C and the water temperature was 3 C, about 50 men and women dressed in white robes and hachimaki headbands took turns standing underneath the 6-meter-high waterfall, located behind the main hall of Oiwasan Nissekiji temple. The people prayed for health and prosperity as they shivered amid the snow.

“I want to try new things this year,” said a 28-year-old company employee from Asahi in the prefecture.